"Okay, it's fine. I can do this." Lucy repeated quietly to herself as she hurried out of the Great Hall, ready to escape the walls of the Castle for only a second. She wanted, so badly, to have some fresh air and a few minutes away from the Wade-infested Common Room. There were many times in which Lucy wanted to be in Ravenclaw, mostly thanks to James, but now she wanted to be anywhere but in Slytherin. Everyday she woke up and faced her cousin. He smiled like he had never done anything and Lucy couldn't help but want to slap him. As she walked closer to the Middle Courtyard, she saw the moonlight transforming the winter scenery into a magical land. Unable to be angry in front of such a beautiful sight, Lucy smiled.

"I guess it's nice he came back to school." she told herself, trying to look at the Brightside of the situation. Ever since coming back from France she found that she liked the snow more than ever, and it even had a soothing effect. She held her sweater tighter to her body and walked out into the courtyard. As beautiful as it was, she knew she could get in trouble for being outside nearing curfew. Maybe she'd have a few minutes though.

It was late, but Hunter was just finishing up his dinner in the Great Hall. He'd arrived toward the end of the feast, and was among the few stragglers that still remained. Most people had retreated to their dormitories by now. He swallowed his last bite of potatoes, downed the remainder of his pumpkin juice and decided that he should probably do the same. It was almost curfew, and he didn't want to get in trouble for being out too late.

He left the Great Hall quickly and started to make his way back to the Gryffindor common room when a thought crossed his mind. I haven't gone outside all day! Hunter loved the outdoors, having grown up on an expansive farmland. The castle was constricting, and he didn't like going a whole day without escaping its stone walls. But he couldn't go outside this late, he'd get in trouble for sure. He thought for a moment before coming up with the perfect solution. The Transfiguration courtyard! It was perfect because the transfiguration courtyard was still technically part of the castle.

He changed directions and made his way toward the courtyard. He'd never been there at night, but as he emerged into it he had to stop to take in his surroundings. Snow had settled over the grass, and the moonlight illuminated the courtyard brilliantly. The moment the cold air hit his face, he grinned. He scanned the area quickly and was surprised to see that someone was already there, in the middle of the square. An older girl - much older - that Hunter had seen around the castle, but never spoken to. Why was she by herself? Maybe she just liked being outside, like him? He contemplated going back in, but decided against it. He'd just go say hello!

Stepping forward, his shoes marking the snow, he approached the girl from the side so that he wouldn't startle her. "Hello!" Hunter said in a friendly tone, looking up at her. "Do you like the outside, too?" He hoped he wasn't disturbing her. He also hoped that she wouldn't get him in trouble for being out there, so he added, "I don't like being cooped up inside the castle all day." Just in case she was curious.

Startled by the sound of an unfamiliar voice, Lucy jumped out of her skin. Standing by her was a boy, a first year by the looks of his face, with such a friendly voice that it was hard to not smile at him. Even though he'd clearly come from the side, she was too deep in her own thoughts to see anything else. "I do like the outside, but the lake is better." she smiled at him before putting her arms around her chest, the chilly weather getting to her already. "Nobody likes to be caged in..." she added, her mood becoming gloomy for a second before turning bright again. "I'm Lucy Malfoy, by the way."

Oops. Looks like he'd startled her anyway, even though he'd tried not to. "I'm sorry," he said quickly, jumping a little when she jumped. "I didn't mean to scare you." But the girl didn't seem to be angry, which was good. "I didn't expect to find anybody out here," Hunter admitted. "Not that I mind, of course!" He added, not wanting the older girl to think he was upset that she was there.

She apparently liked the outdoors, too! She commented that nobody liked to be caged. "Exactly," Hunter agreed, glad that this random older girl understood his thoughts. Then she introduced herself as Lucy Malfoy. "I'm Hunter! Hunter VanDerberg," he said brightly, grinning up at her. "Are you related to Ryland?" he asked Lucy, remembering that Ryland's last name was Malfoy as well.

Lucy thought it was hilariously adorable that this boy was just going on about not liking to be caged in. He was a smaller version of a comedian who needed only to speak to be funny. Grinning, she answered. "You know my brother?" Knowing Ryland's awkward personality, it surprised her that he'd ever talk to boys. Let alone younger ones he couldn't possibly have anything in common with. "Let me guess, you set his precious hair on fire and he stared you down?" She added with a small laugh.

"Ryland's your brother?" Hunter asked curiously. So they were related! Well then, this Lucy girl must be alright if she was anything like Ryland. "He's in my house," Hunter explained, though that wasn't exactly the way that he and Ryland had met. She asked if he'd set Ryland's hair on fire by accident. Hunter burst into laughter at the question and shook his head. "No, although that's still a possibility if he's in the common room while I'm practicing incendio," Hunter joked. "My aim isn't all that great yet," Hunter admitted.

"No actually, he saved me!" Hunter explained. "I was trying to get back to the common room when the staircase attacked me." Hunter was very good at making the story sound much more dramatic than it was. "It was trying to eat me!" he exclaimed. "I would've been a goner for sure if Ryland hadn't turned up. He laughed at me, but then he pulled me out!" Hunter didn't mind that Ryland had laughed at him. Hunter would have laughed, too, if he'd come across such a thing.

"What house are you in?" Hunter asked Lucy curiously. "Not Gryffindor, I would have seen you in the common room."

"Yes, he's my younger brother. Only by a year, though." She replied, wondering how Hunter and Ryland had even met. She was going to ask, but Hunter began laughing at her past question and explaining. Listening to his story, Lucy couldn't help but laugh with him. Little Hunter had gotten attacked by a staircase! A staircase out of all things! Lucy thought about her younger years, had she ever been attacked by inanimate objects? She couldn't remember well, as most of her stories were about the Library, James, the Lake, Aurora, New York and Wade.

She looked at Hunter again as he asked about her house, which made her raise an eyebrow slightly. "I'm most certainly not in Gryffindor. So which one would you put me in?"

Lucy laughed with him. That was good. He decided that he liked this older girl a lot so far. For one, she liked being outside like him. And she was Ryland's older sister, so she was genetically nice - although, Aoife didn't think that Ryland was very nice. Hunter didn't think that Aoife would lie about something like that, but Hunter had never seen that side of him so he had to give the boy that had rescued him from the staircase the benefit of the doubt. And she just seemed nice. Those were all plenty of reasons to like her, right?

Instead of telling her what house she was in, she asked him what he thought. "Well," he said, thinking hard about it for a moment before answering. "Not Gryffindor. And probably not Slytherin, you're nothing like Jen... I don't know if you're really smart or not yet, so I don't know if you'd be in Ravenclaw...Maybe Hufflepuff, since you're so nice?" Hunter guessed. So far, all of the Hufflepuffs he'd met were nice. So that would make the most sense, if she wasn't in Gryffindor.

Lucy found it very funny that Hunter had placed her in Hufflepuff, so she felt a little bad to disappoint him. "Actually, I'm Slytherin, you little lion." She replied, shrugging like it wasn't a big deal. But it was. Lucy had known that she had as many traits of Slytherin as Wade had of Hufflepuff...and she couldn't wrap her mind around the Sorting Hat's decision made six years ago."I sort of think I should be in Gryffindor, though." She added.

Slytherin? he repeated, surprise clearly evident in his voice. "You?" That didn't sound right at all. "I think the sorting hat was a bit confused." Then, the thought that Lucy might actually be proud of her house crossed his mind, so he added a bit sheepishly, "No offence." Then, Lucy said that she would have been good in Gryffindor. "You'd be a great Gryffindor," Hunter agreed, nodding his head. "D'you... d'you like Slytherin?" Hunter asked her curiously.